McGregor Mayweather illegal streamers face prosecution

Millions of people tuned in across the world to watch Floyd Mayweather take down Conor McGregor in the 10th round of their Las Vegas blockbuster on Sunday.

But millions more, unwilling to fork out the hefty pay-per-view fees, turned to illegal streams and live broadcasts online to catch the fight without paying.

For many of those streaming the fight through an unofficial source, a watermark with a random selection of letters and numbers reportedly appeared on their feed.

According to Torrentfreak, it’s likely the mystery code was intentionally placed there by broadcasters licensed to stream the fight in a bid to track down pirates.

Millions of people tuned in across the world to watch Floyd Mayweather (left) take down Conor McGregor (right) in the 10th round of their Las Vegas blockbuster on Sunday 

But millions more turned to illegal streams and live broadcasts (pictured) online to catch the fight without paying

But millions more turned to illegal streams and live broadcasts (pictured) online to catch the fight without paying

For many of those illegally streaming the fight through an unofficial source, a mystery code (centre of image) reportedly appeared on their feed

For many of those illegally streaming the fight through an unofficial source, a mystery code (centre of image) reportedly appeared on their feed

‘The numbers would allow (the broadcaster) to track the illicit stream back to a subscriber and/or a set-top box tied to a particular account,’ TorrentFreak wrote.

‘Since that subscriber has then re-streamed that content back online illegally, the code would act as a homing beacon and could spell bad news for the individual involved.’

Those found to have been hosting illegal streams of the fight, either via Youtube, Facebook or online blogs, could face serious fines and even a jail sentence.

Two people are reportedly facing up to a $60,000 fine and five year jail sentence for using Facebook Live to stream the recent Danny Green vs Anthony Mundine fight.  

According to Torrentfreak , it's likely the mystery code was intentionally placed there by broadcasters licensed to stream the fight in a bid to track down pirates

According to Torrentfreak , it’s likely the mystery code was intentionally placed there by broadcasters licensed to stream the fight in a bid to track down pirates

Those found to have been hosting illegal streams of the fight, either via Youtube, Facebook or online blogs, could face serious fines and even a jail sentence

Those found to have been hosting illegal streams of the fight, either via Youtube, Facebook or online blogs, could face serious fines and even a jail sentence

Torrentfreak claimed the codes could also have come directly from the illegal streaming source as a means to track where it was being hosted. 

‘Pirate streams are vulnerable to being ‘stolen’ in much the same way that official streams are, so it’s possible that a provider wanted to keep tabs on where its streams were ending up,’ the publication said. 

Foxtel, which offered the Mayweather fight on it’s Main Event channel for $59.95, has been cracking down on illegal streaming in recent years. 

Mayweather is likely to take home over $400 million from the fight, while McGregor will be about $100 million richer. 

Following a bright start, the UFC star fatigued badly in the middle rounds and became easy pickings for Mayweather before referee Robert Byrd stepped in. 

Mayweather is likely to take home over $400 million from the fight, while McGregor will be about $100 million richer

Mayweather is likely to take home over $400 million from the fight, while McGregor will be about $100 million richer

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